Around St. Louis

[DonnaR57]

Hermann - - we went there last summer. There are a bunch of wineries there, so mostly it's for adults. We first went to the Hermanoff Winery. They have a self-guided tour and a tasting that you may choose up to a certain amount of wines to taste.

Then we drove a little further out and went to the Stone Hill Winery. It was a guided tour, which cost money, but then the tasting room was the best tasting we've ever done (and we've done a few!!!!). My husband then went away with 12 bottles of wine, and a special bottle of grape juice for our very patient 8-1/2 year old niece. My MIL bought several bottles, as did our older daughter. Some of those bottles that my MIL bought, reappeared at Christmastime as gifts.

If you have children in your party, Hermann might not be a lot of fun.

I don't think I saw Six Flags Over Mid-America listed, which is off I-44 southwest of town. There's a water park there now, too. I haven't done this in years, but my daughter and her husband like to go to Six Flags.

Also, down in Bonne Terre (southwest of St Louis, even further south of I-44) is Bonne Terre Mine. A college friend of mine raved about it a few years back. http://www.2dive.com/btm.htm This is a mine in which you can go diving in.





Donna

[jcorb2d]

I had almost forgotten about this thread - it has been a long time.

Lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse, arriving BEFORE opening for shorter line (shhh...)

Five minutes walk from my office - need to go there more often.

The Grant Home NATIONAL PARK-- NOT the farm owned by Anheiser Busch

Five minutes walk from my house. My wife takes my daughter there at least once a week to go through the barn, etc. My five-year old likes it much better than Grant's Farm. Plus, it's not nearly as crowded as Grant's Farm.

Had frozen custard and Concrete at Ted Drewes

Absolute must.

BTW, if you are into Olympic history, you can visit the site of the 1904 Olympics and run around the track, etc. It's been refurbished since then, but it is the correct site. It's on the campus of Washington University at the corner of Big Bend and Forsythe (google "Francis Field."

As an aside, I have lived here for 18 years now and have yet to go up the Arch. Only visited the Arch grounds once. Funny how you ignore a lot of those things in your own backyard.

A couple of my new favorites over the past few years:

• Walking the Missouri River riverside in St. Charles
• The Muny on a warm (but not too hot) Summer night. There are free seats available in the back. Bring some binoculars.
• the Turtle Park - near the Zoo but across Highway 40 - younger kids really like it

Notes:

The Laumeier Sculpture Park has had a lot of remodeling done. It's a great place to let the kids run and enjoy some art outdoors.

The Botanical Garden has a new Children's Garden. I know Visitors love the Zoo, Art Museum, and Science Center for the free admission, but I would take the Botanical Garden over any of them. Combine with a lunch on South Grand (I like Cafe Natasha and the Lemongrass - lots of other people here like the Pho Grand but if I am doing Vietnamese I am going to Lemongrass for a clay pot).

I haven't been to the new Busch Stadium, but I hear good things and baseball in St. Louis is special.

--Jon

[DonnaR57]

Jon, what's the latest on the Arch? We heard that it is under refurbishment, so we didn't go down there this summer. Of course I didn't bother to check the Arch website for information ... I think we were tired of the drive on I-70 between Columbia and St Louis by then.

There's always Hannibal, too - - it's only 2 hours north of St Louis!



Donna

[jcorb2d]

Jon, what's the latest on the Arch? We heard that it is under refurbishment, so we didn't go down there this summer. Of course I didn't bother to check the Arch website for information ... I think we were tired of the drive on I-70 between Columbia and St Louis by then.

There's always Hannibal, too - - it's only 2 hours north of St Louis!



Donna

Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you anything about the Arch that couldn't be found on the web site. As far as I know, it is open for all of the usual functions. It really doesn't play much of a part in the lives of people here - it's just kind of always there.

My iconic places are things like the Chain of Rocks, Ted Drewes, The Hill, the Central West End, the Delmar Loop, etc. These are the places I take visitors when they are in town.

There's also Ste. Genevieve, Hermann/Washington, and St. Charles...

--Jon